|
Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
|
|
Join Writer Development Section Writer Development Member Section
This Day in Alternate History Blog
|
Falklands
War 1982 The
Fall of Britannia By David Atwell Introduction The War for the Falkland Islands will
inevitably go down in history as one of the events of infamy. Regardless of what
Argentina said at the time, or what has been said since 1982, Argentina
nevertheless attacked, without warning or provocation, the British territory of
the Falkland Islands. Furthermore, in another historical circumstance, the War
would also see then end of the phrase ‘Britannia Rules The Waves’. The
audacious Argentine air attack, on 10th May 1982, would ensure the
end of the Royal Navy as a force in global affairs. And coinciding with the
British defeat, the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher would,
likewise, be defeated in the British general elections two months later in July. The dispute, over the Falkland Islands,
goes back a long way in history. It is a complicated affair which once saw
France, Spain & Britain disputing who actually owned the Islands. At one
point, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, saw Spain awarded
ownership of the Islands, but then in 1764, in defiance of the Treaty, the
French established a settlement at Port Louis,
thus making a claim to the Islands. Then the Spanish established their
own colony at Port Egmont, closed the small French colony under agreement
with the French, & then, in turn, handed over the colony to the British
along with the ownership of the Islands in 1774. A few years later Spain claimed
British ownership was in void because the British closed the Port Egmont
settlement a year before. Now the Argentines entered the fray.
Following Argentine independence from Spain, in 1816, Argentina claimed that the
Falkland Islands belonged to them. Furthermore, in 1820, the Argentines send a
frigate to the Islands to stake their claim. Eight years later, as a result of
this action, a small but prosperous colony had been established based on the
seal trade. In 1829, however, the British protested the situation but did little
about it other than handing over strongly worded letter to the Argentine
government. The next step, however, witnessed the United States enter centre stage over the Falklands. In 1831, a number of Americans were caught poaching seals on the Falklands. In reprisal, the US sent the warship Lexington to the Falklands which opened fire on the settlement. A couple of Argentine officials, on the Islands, were also arrested whilst the US government declared the Islands free of any government. In doing so, the British returned in 1833, forced the remaining Argentine population off the island, & finally claimed the Falklands for themselves. At this point, the British stay on the Falklands &, in 1842, the Islands officially become part of the British Empire. And so this would remain the situation for the next 140 years… The
Taking of South Georgia On the 19th March 1982 41
Argentine “workmen” arrived on South Georgia Island transported by the
Argentine Navy transport Bahia Buen Suceso.
As it so happened, these workmen were actually members of the Argentine Navy’s
Special Forces. The next morning, at the Argentine camp, their national flag was
raised which gained the attention of four British scientists who were also on
the island. As a result, the British government expressed its objection to the
Argentine flag flying on British territory & promptly demanded its lowering.
This, the Argentines did, albeit reluctantly. The British, however, began to grow some
concern as to the actual activities of these Argentine workmen. As a result, the
British Governor of the Falkland Islands, Rex Hunt, sent 22 Royal Marines to
South Georgia Island on the HMS Endurance.
In a similar move, although unknown to the British, the Argentines had sent
another naval transport ship, the Bahia
Paraiso to South Georgia along with a detachment of Argentine Marines. This
ship also carried two helicopters. On the 29th May 1982, the
Royal Marines were ordered that, if the Argentines tried to occupy South Georgia
Island, due to concerns over what the Bahia
Paraiso was up to, they were to use “Yellow Card” rules of engagement,
which would prove to be useless in the events which would follow. Thus, on the 2nd
April 1982, the Royal Marines were place in a difficult position when they
discovered that the Argentines had indeed a military presence on South Georgia
& not a civilian one (which the “Yellow Card” rules were suppose to deal
with). At the same time as the Falkland Islands
were being invaded, the Argentine forces on South Georgia thus made their move.
But it was not as easy as the Argentines thought, or wanted it to be. The Royal
Marines, commanded by Lieutenant Keith Mills, had prepared defensive positions
not far from their billets having feared the worst a few days before. Yet, on the 3rd April, regardless of the Royal Marines preparations, the Argentines made their move against them nonetheless. The fighting which followed was intense. The British gave a good account of themselves against great odds. In the end, the Argentines had to even throw a frigate & two helicopters into the battle, which saw, however, damage caused to the frigate, by British rocket fire, & one helicopter shot down. In the end, though, numbers, lack of supplies, & without hope of reinforcements, the Royal Marines eventually surrendered without loss. With them thirteen British civilians also went into captivity. The Argentines had won the hard battle for South Georgia, but at great cost. Ironically, in a gesture of good will, the British prisoners, both military & civilian, were sent home to Britain two weeks later. The
Invasion of the Falkland Islands Whilst the Argentines were playing their
subterfuge on South Georgia Island, there was no indication whatsoever that the
Falkland Islands as a whole came under Argentine threat.
Yet this was to change dramatically on the 31st March. By now,
British intelligence became alarmed, not overly about developments on South
Georgia, but by the fact that Argentine naval deployments indicated that an
invasion of the Falklands could take place within days. As a result of this warning, Governor
Hunt ordered the Royal Marine detachment to prepare defences. Luckily for the
British, instead of the usual detachment of 40 Marines, there are actually 70
present, plus a local contingent of Falkland Islanders. As a result, by the time
the Argentines eventually landed, the British had reasonable defences come the
battle. On the morning of 2nd April
1982, the Argentine invasion took place. Landing around Port Stanley, the main
settlement on the Falklands, the Argentine 2nd Marine Battalion,
landed unopposed & moved towards the town. The main objectives, for the
invaders, were the airfield & Government House. Fighting, however, took
place once the Argentines left the beach areas. The Royal Marines gave a good
account of themselves, even in the face of armour. Using LAWS anti-tank rockets,
damage wss done to several Amtrak vehicles. The battle, however, soon turned against
the British as the Argentines had overwhelming numbers. The airfield was soon
taken by the Argentine Marines & immediately the 25 Infantry Brigade began
to arrive by aircraft. Elsewhere,
the Argentines moved slowly & surely towards Government House. Governor
Hunt, knowing all too well that there was no hope in stopping the Argentine
invasion, issued the surrender order at 9.30am.
That evening, Governor Hunt & the Royal Marines were evacuated from
the Falklands to the mainland. They, like their comrades from South Georgia,
were returned to Britain by way of Paraguay. The
British Response The British response to the invasion of
Sovereign territory was immense. No
one displayed more outrage than the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Known as the ‘Iron Lady’, not only did she show her anger in public, an
emotion which the people of Britain shared it must be noted, but she spent
little time with diplomacy. Orders were immediately sent out from Number 10
Downing Street to the armed forces. Thus the largest Britain Armada, since the
Suez Crisis, would be assembled. And along with the Royal Navy, the Army &
the Royal Air Force was also organising their part to play. The units of Britain’s military,
assembled to give battle, was impressive. Two aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes & HMS Invincible
would lead the Royal Navy, which would also include the one off class ship DDGs
HMS Bristol; the County class ships
HMS Antrim, & HMS Glamorgan;
the Type-42 class ships HMS Cardiff,
HMS, Coventry, HMS Exeter, HMS Glasgow,
& HMS Sheffield; as well as the
frigates HMS Brilliant, HMS Broadsword, HMS Active,
HMS Alacrity, HMS Ambuscade,
HMS Antelope, HMS Ardent, HMS Arrow,
HMS Avenger, HMS Andromeda,
HMS Argonant, HMS Minerva,
HMS Penelope, HMS Plymouth,
HMS Yarmouth; & finally six
submarines including HMS Conqueror & HMS
Spartan. Along with the combat ships would come
several troop, cargo & landing ships including HMS Fearless, HMS Intrepid,
HMS Sir Bedivere, HMS Sir
Galahad, HMS Sir Geraint, HMS Sir Lancelot,
HMS Sir Percivale, HMS Sir
Tristram, & importantly the helicopter tender HMS Engadine. On board all these ships came an
impressive array of personnel & equipment. 20 of the Sea Harriers would be
deployed upon the two aircraft carriers. These would become essential for
protecting the fleet from any air threat. Backing the Sea Harriers up, would be
the various SAM systems which many of the ships had. The SAM systems varied,
though, from the Sea Cat & Sea Slug systems, which were somewhat old, to the
more effective & modern Sea Dart & Sea Wolf systems. Although the naval element was probably the most impressive, considering the assets involved, it would, however, once the fleet arrived at the Falklands, be the task of the ground forces who would inevitably have the difficult job of, not only landing, but giving battle to the Argentine military which occupied the Islands. This unthankful task would fall to the Army’s 5th Infantry Brigade & 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines. The
Empire Strikes Back On the same day that the Falklands was
surrendered to Argentina, Britain had already set her plans in motion to retake
the Islands. Out of the ships listed above, an “Advanced Group” was
organised & sent to the South Atlantic in preparation for the main fleet.
Centred around the destroyers HMS Antrim
& Glamorgan, HMS Coventry,
Glasgow, Sheffield, & the frigates HMS Arrow,
Brilliant, & Plymouth came
along. Added to this Advanced Group was a detachment of Royal Marines, SAS &
SBS units. At the same time as the Advanced Group
was getting its orders to sail south, the nuclear submarine
HMS Conqueror also got its
orders. Like the Advanced Group, it was to head south as part of a coordinated
mission to strike at the Argentines. On the 21st April, HMS Conqueror
hence arrived at its patrol station & began to collect information of
Argentine activity on South Georgia Island. A day after Conqueror
arrived it put ashore a small party of SAS
& SBS troops to observe the Argentine positions on the island itself. Having studied the Argentine positions,
the SAS & SBS units inform the Advanced Group, commanded by Admiral
Woodward, of their observations. Woodward then orders HMS Antrim & Plymouth,
along with the troop support ship RFA Tidespring
to head to the South Georgia Islands in an effort to retake them. Thus, on the
25th April 1982, the first action to take the Falklands Island back
occurs. Under the cover of cannon fire from the
two Royal Navy combat ships, British troops land on South Georgia on the
beaches, via landing craft, & on higher ground via helicopters. The
Argentines, to their credit, manage to hold on until the next morning when the
cannon fire from the two Royal Navy ships became very accurate &, likewise,
obvious that there was no chance of survival. Wishing to thus avoid pointless
deaths, the 150 strong Argentine garrison surrendered. Yet if news of the fall of South Georgia
was bad news for the Argentines, worse news was soon to come. HMS Conqueror,
now free from her duties at South Georgia, was ordered to begin patrols to the
west of the Falklands. Coinciding with this, the British announced an exclusion
zone around the disputed islands. Ignoring the British exclusion zone, the
Argentine Navy decided to put to sea. There were many reasons for this, but the
leading one was the approach of the RN Advanced Group. The Argentine Naval planners had come up
with a two-prong attack in dealing with the Advanced Group. One task force would
be centred around the elderly aircraft carrier the 25 de Mayo, whilst a second group centred around the elderly cruiser
General Belgrano. A third group
centred around two DDGs, the Santisima
Trinidad & the Hercules (which
were ironically British Type-42 destroyers), which patrolled the Argentine
coast. So, in accord with the plan, the Argentine Fleet sortied on 26th
April 1982. The Argentines, however, were not aware
of the exact location of the RN Advanced Group. Even though Tracker aircraft,
from the 25 de Mayo, scanned the
surrounding seas with their radar, looking for the British ships, nothing was
found. Unbeknownst to the Argentine navy at the time, the Advanced Group had
sailed to the west of the Falklands in order to recapture South Georgia. By the
time the Argentines had become aware of the fall of South Georgia, the two
Argentine Navy task force groups were to the north-west (25 de Mayo task force) & south-west (General Belgrano task force) of the Falklands. And it was in these
locations that the Argentine Navy decided to stay until the location of the
Advanced Group was finally discovered. HMS Conqueror,
in the meantime, had taken up its patrol station to the west of the Falkland
Islands on 1st April. Enjoying advanced sonar technology, it did not
take the Conqueror long before a
contact had been identified to the south. As a result, the RN submarine headed
off to the location of its contact in order to investigate. The Conqueror’s
captain, fully aware of the exclusion zone & what it meant should any
Argentine vessel was found in it, was prepared to sink the contact if it proved
to be of Argentine origin. Thus on the 2nd April 1982, Conqueror
came upon the General Belgrano task
force patrolling the south-western approaches to the Falkland Islands. The
hunters now became the hunted. Without any warning whatsoever, two torpedos hit
the General Belgrano midships that
caused great destruction. The Argentine cruiser had no chance as it began to
sink. The British had gained another victory, one even greater than the retaking
of South Georgia. The Argentine Naval response was not surprising. Realising the great danger its ships were in, the entire Argentine Navy, apart from one diesel-electric submarine, returned to port. It seemed that Argentina had surrendered the South Atlantic Ocean to the Royal Navy. But, in reality, Argentina would now resort to its only real strength it had in fighting the British: her aircraft. The
Loss of HMS Sheffield On the morning of the 3rd
April 1982, the British were celebrating two victories. Things looked to be going well for the British in their
endeavour to retake the Falklands. Already, South Georgia had been liberated,
whilst the Argentine Navy, in response to the sinking of their cruiser, had
returned to port as fast as was possible. Furthermore, the great armada that
Britain had put together for this undertaking, had arrived in the area. Now the
British had the full weight of their military to bring to bare against the
Argentines. There seemed little for the British to overly worry about. But this
was to soon change. Now that the Argentines had more or less
surrendered the Southern Atlantic to the British, they began to take stock.
Clearly the Royal Navy was far too superior for the Argentine Navy to defeat in
an open encounter. It would require something very different possibly not seen
since the days of the Second World War. It would take the combined efforts of
the aircraft of the Navy with that of the Air Force. And this would take much
effort & planning. But first of all the Argentine planners had to know if
the centre piece of their plan would work. As a result, a hastily battle plan
was put together to try out the Navy’s only one true asset - their Super
Etendards. On the morning of 4th May
there seemed no threat coming from the Argentines. HMS Sheffield, now that the entire fleet had arrived, took up its patrol
position some 40nm in front of the main fleet. Its role was that of radar
picket, insofar as it was to keep an eye on the skies should any aircraft try to
attack the fleet. Unbeknown to the Sheffield,
an Argentine Navy Tracker aircraft, operating to the north of the Falkland
Islands, was able to scan the British destroyer, at some distance, without
itself being noticed. If it was itself scanned, it would have been
challenged by two Sea Harriers who performed CAP duties. Once the Sheffield was noticed, the Tracker reported its findings to its
controllers back on the mainland, & not long afterwards, two Naval Super
Etendards took off to try their first strike mission against the Royal Navy.
Events now moved fast as the Super Etendards flew towards the location of the
British ship. The great advantage, in the forth coming battle, would soon shock
the world as the nature of Naval battles was about to change. At some distance
from the Sheffield, in fact at 60nm
away, the Super Etendards, which had been flying low to avoid British radar, now
gained height whilst turning on their own radar in an attempt to get a final fix
on the Sheffield. Once this was
achieved, two Exocet missiles were fired at the target. The Sheffield
never knew what hit it. There was no warning. Nothing. The Exocet missiles had
been fired beyond the effective radar range of the Royal Navy ship. As a result,
the two Argentine aircraft were never really spotted by the Sheffield’s
radar, although there was some intermitted contact. But this was not enough to
get the full attention of the ship’s radar personnel. The British soon conducted rescue missions, for the surviving crew of the Sheffield, & these were largely successful, but the loss of the Sheffield soon took the gloss of the British successes to date. For the Argentines, though, the success of the Super Etendards mission was met with much joy. The Argentines now knew that air attack was the way they could defeat the Royal Navy. As a result, their plan for a full air offensive would go ahead in five days. Plans Yet, even with the loss of the Sheffield,
the British continued to press ahead with their efforts. And if the Argentines
thought that the British may take a few days to recover from the sinking of the Sheffield, they were mistaken. On the same day that the Sheffield
was sunk, the first actions against the Argentine garrison on the Falklands took
place. The Royal Air Force now got involved. The aging British bomber, the
Vulcan, was given the mission to attack Stanley Airfield, which was now used by
the Argentines. Although it only
involved the use of one aircraft, this still came as a shock to the defenders.
What was worse, too, was the fact that Sea Harriers began attacks around the
Falklands, although this was mostly around Port Stanley. The reaction by the Argentines was not
surprising. As a result, they implemented four days earlier, part of their air
offensive plan. So on the dawn of 6th
May, a CAP was established over the town of Poart Stanley consisting of two
Mirage III fighter jets. Argentina had 17 such aircraft &, although these
had to be based on the mainland as the runway at Stanley Airfield was too short,
the patrol could be maintained 24 hours a day as they had plenty of numbers in
such aircraft. The next step was sending all eight Navy
Skyhawk jet fighters to Stanley airfield. These were the A-4Q model which had
been updated ten years ago from the original A-4B model. As such, they could be
used in the fighter role like the Mirage III, even though the Sidewinder they
employed was the ‘D’ model & somewhat obsolete. Nonetheless, like the
Mirage III CAP, these Skyhawks would also provide a CAP & acted as support
for the Mirage fighters. Added to this air defence was an
assortment of AA guns & SAM systems which were concentrated around Stanley
Airfield. Thus when the RAF attempted another bombing run in the evening of 6th
May, it was intercepted by the Mirage CAP. And, instead of attempting to
continue with its bombing mission, the Vulcan bomber reversed course &
headed back to Ascension from where it came. The airspace, however, over the Falkland
Islands was now to be contested between the Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy &
the jet fighters of Argentina. In many respects it was an uneven contest &
the Argentines would lose two Navy Skyhawk A-4Qs whilst their Air Force comrades
would have six of their Mirage IIIs shot down. At the same time, the RN would
lose two Sea Harriers to a mid air collision & have one shot down due to
ground fire. Annoyingly for the Argentine pilots, all of their efforts came to
naught against their opposition. Nonetheless, the efforts of the Argentines ensured that the groundwork had been established for the upcoming air offensive. Instead of waiting for the 10th May, it was decided to bring some elements forward a day. This was risky, considering that a possible attack on Stanley Airfield could destroy the forth-coming attack, but it was decided to go ahead with the plan anyway. So all through the 9th May, 45 Argentine Air Force Skyhawk A-4B/Cs (the older model) arrived at Stanley Airfield to be readied for the air offensive. And protecting this resent addition to the Falklands, the Navy Skyhawks & Air Force Mirage IIIs doubled their efforts in patrolling the Falklands airspace. The British helped in this regard by not launching any attack on 9th May. That was unfortunate. Battle
of the Falklands There seemed to be no indication, on the
morning of 10th May, that the greatest naval battle to take place
since 1945 was about to begin. The British, after loosing three of their Sea
Harriers on 8th May, had begun to analyse the situation. The RAF,
after encountering strong air defences, including enemy fighters, had told the
Royal Navy that it could not send further Vulcan bombing missions to the
Falklands, because they believed that the bomber would be shot down well before
reaching its target. As a result of the RAF’s concerns, on
the 9th May, the British decided that the Argentine air coverage of
the Falklands would need to be seriously contested, but this meant that the
Royal Navy needed more Harriers. As a result, it was arranged that ten more Sea
Harriers would be flown down to Ascension Island & then from there they
would fly to the Fleet. Coming with the Sea Harriers would be also eight RAF
Harriers. Although somewhat different to their sea based cousins, they could,
nevertheless, still do the job. The Harrier reinforcements would leave Britain
the next day & arrive on the 11th May. The next day the British
planned to conduct their own offensive against the Argentine air cover. Yet as these Harriers left Britain,
trouble was brewing for the British. By the end of the day, it would be they who
were in serious trouble. For as per the Argentine battle plans, the great
Argentine Air/Naval Offensive began. The Argentine attack came in several
phases. Each had to be well timed, although there had been much left free so
that commanders had the opportunity to adjust their part of the plan according
to circumstance. Nonetheless, the attack began as planned. The first signal that something was
afoot was when the radar equipment on board HMS Hermes
& Invincible alerted their
operators that powerful airborne radars were operating to the west of the
Falklands. Fearing that an attack might be under way, the alert was given. As
such, four Sea Harriers where launched to join up with the two already
patrolling the skies as part of their CAP duties. But before the Harriers could
be vectored towards the location of the enemy radar, the first major part of the
Argentine plan came into action. Having been alerted to the Royal
Navy’s reaction to the Surveillance
Group, comprising two Argentine Air Force Elint 707s & two Naval Tracker
aircraft, the Deception Group of
aircraft, that being ten Aermacchi MB.339 jets & ten Canberra light bombers,
went into action. Having taken off from their bases some half hour before the Surveillance
Group had turned on their radars, the Deception
Group deliberately climbed in height to gain the attention of the British. To the British radar operators, it just
appeared that a large strike force had just conducted a “pop-up” manoeuvre
which is commonly done, by attacking aircraft, in order to get a radar fix on
their respective targets. As a result, it appeared to the British that they were
under attack by a mixed force of Aermacchi MB.339 light strike aircraft, but far
more alarmingly, Canberra bombers. Needless to say, this gained the full
attention of the British & soon all six Sea Harriers were sent to intercept
this incoming threat. The Argentines, however, had
deliberately planned for this event. Once the Surveillance
Group ascertained that the Deception
Group had been seen, & that Sea Harriers were heading towards them, the Deception
Group got the go ahead to complete their mission. In doing so, they dropped
their altitude to some 250 feet above sea level & turned around. The Sea
Harriers, thinking that the Argentines were trying to get under their radar,
continued with their interception mission not realising that they were being
deliberately led away from the fleet. Soon, however, the Harriers, in their
futile attempt at intercepting the Argentine aircraft, were low on fuel &
had to return to their carriers. They would take no further part in this day’s
business. The British, though, obviously had more
than six Harriers. As a result of the situation, two more Harriers were launched
to take up the CAP duties now relinquished by their comrades. At the same time,
the Argentines began the second phase of their plan. At this point, the
Argentine Fighter Sweep Force of 20
Dagger Fighters, an Israeli fighter aircraft that is similar to the Mirage III,
now came into play. These aircraft were formed into two groups, & although
both groups would fight together as a whole, their purposes were different prior
to air combat. The first group of ten Dagger fighters
rose in altitude whilst the remaining ten remained low. This was a deliberate
ploy, in a manner similar to the Deception
Group, except in this case there would be no withdrawal. Instead the Dagger
fighters meant business. And as with the Deception
Group, the British soon saw the Daggers on radar. Immediately the British
reacted with alarm & sent the two Sea Harriers of the CAP towards the
location of the incoming Daggers. Furthermore, knowing that these aircraft were
Dagger fighters meant the British launched a further six Harriers to support the
two already airborne. Upon seeing the British air activity,
the Surveillance Group, once again
issued orders for Argentine reaction. This meant three things took place all at
once. The first immediate step saw the ten Dagger fighters return to their
previous low altitude & rejoin the other ten fighters of the Fighter Sweep Force. Soon the British would be caught in an ambush
where 20, & not ten fighters, were waiting for them. The second step witnessed the
introduction of the Entendard Exocet
Force. This small group, numbering only four Super Entendards, would have
the most important mission of all. Being guided by the information gathered by
the Surveillance Group, the four
aircraft flew at low altitude towards their objective - the two Royal Navy
carriers. At the appropriate time, the four aircraft did the “pop-up”
manoeuvre & fired their Exocet missiles before anyone could do anything
about it. Coinciding with the Entendard Exocet Force, came the great bulk of the air attack. The
45 older Skyhawks, who the day before had arrived at Stanley Airfield, were now
added to the battle known as the Skyhawk
Strike Force. But they were not alone. Providing a fighter escort came ten
more of the Dagger fighters grouped as the Fighter
Escort Force. It would be just as well these Daggers came along, considering
the air defence which the British could still offer after being as stretched as
they were. Yet before the Entendards had even gotten into position to fire their deadly cargo, the British Harriers & the Daggers of the Fighter Sweep Force soon clashed. Amazingly for the British pilots, even though surprised & greatly outnumbered, they fought extremely well under the circumstances. Armed with the latest model Sidewinder missile, the ‘L’ version, five Argentine Daggers had been destroyed before the Argentines even had an opportunity to return fire. Furthermore, the British ships had been alerted to the real situation & the remaining three Sea Harriers had been launched. The battle, though, was now reaching its
climax. With only three Harriers in reserve, Woodward, the Royal Navy admiral
commanding the fleet, was justifiably concerned. Ordering a full alert, every
radar & SAM system throughout the entire fleet came online. It was just as
well as, at this point in time, the Skyhawk
Strike Force was beginning to split up into nine groups of five. In doing
so, each group had its own particular target, which included the two British
carriers & every destroyer. But before the Skyhawk Strike Force were even within of the Royal Navy’s SAM
umbrella, the remaining three Sea Harriers tried to intervene. Now came the turn of the Argentine Fighter
Escort Force. Their sole mission was to keep the Skyhawk
Strike Force alive. Noticing the movements of the remaining Sea Harriers,
the ten Daggers intervened. Again, though, the Daggers were severely hit in the
air mallee which followed. Within a minute, three Daggers were destroyed whilst
all three Sea Harriers survived the initial attack. But, as had happened to the
other Sea Harrier interception force, the British were caught up in their own
deadly action which ensured that the Skyhawk
Strike Force went unmolested. It was at this point in the battle when
everything went wrong for the British. Just as the Skyhawk Strike Force began their bombing runs, the four Exocet
missiles announced their arrival. Within seconds, all four missiles hit their
targets. Within seconds. Both HMS Hermes
& Invincible were surrounded in
smoke. Emergency alerts were sent to the fleet for help, although most ships
were too busy with the battle at hand, as the planes Skyhawk Strike Force had survived so far without any loss & was
clearly threatening several ships. This, however, was about to change.
Now in range of the Sea Dart SAM systems on HMS Bristol
& the Type 42 destroyers, several such missiles were launched at the
incoming Skyhawks. Unfortunately for the British, the Sea
Dart system was more like the American Standard SM-1 SAM system than the far
more capable Aegis air defence system. As such, each RN destroyer could only
target one Skyhawk each. Overall, this meant only five aircraft could be engaged
at the same time. Having said that, the two County Class destroyers also tried
to engage the Argentine aircraft as well, but their Sea Slug SAM system was more
or less obsolete &, in the action which followed, only managed to hit one
plane. Unlike the lack of success, which the
Sea Slug armed destroyers had, the other destroyers had much more success. Alas,
for the Argentine pilots, the British shot down a further 20 Skyhawks using the
Sea Dart SAMs, whist a further two Skyhawks were hit with the Sea Wolf system.
But if the Argentines thought that their cost for victory was steep, the British
losses from the combined Exocet/Skyhawk attack was worse. Not only was HMS Hermes
& HMS Invincible hit by two
Exocets each, but each received the attention of two Skyhawks. The Argentine
jets were able to score four 500lb bombs on both carriers which lead to their
sinking later that day. Furthermore, both County Class destroyers were hit by
several 500lb bombs, as was the Type-42 destroyer HMS Coventry.
Finally, two frigates of the Amazon Class, HMS Antelope & HMS Ardent,
were also hit. And all these ships would be lost. Five other frigates were also
damaged, but were still seaworthy. Within an hour of the opening phase of
the Argentine attack, it was thankfully over. The Royal Navy had been gutted.
Frantic efforts at rescue operations soon began as had improvised planning.
The most important aspect at this point was the recovery of the surviving
Sea Harriers. Even though their
carriers had been sunk, it still meant a landing place had to be made quickly
for the 12 surviving Harriers. Thankfully HMS Engadine,
the helicopter support ship, was able to take eight of the homeless Harriers,
whilst four of the fleet support ships, those having large helicopter support
facilities, took one of the remaining four Harriers each. Woodward, who survived the sinking of his flagship HMS Antrim, gave the saddest order of his life. Knowing all too well that his position was completely untenable, Woodward ordered a withdrawal to Ascension Island. Britain, or so it seemed, had lost the war. The only exception to this order was given to the submarines patrolling the waters around the Falklands & off the Argentine coast. These would remain in order to enforce the exclusion zone which was still in force. Aftermath On the 11th May 1982,
Argentina awoke with the news of a great victory. And indeed it was for a short
time. Three days later, after it had been confirmed that the British fleet had
withdrawn, the 25 de Mayo, with two
frigate escorts & two cargo ships, left port for the Falkland Islands with
supplies for the army garrison & the civilians. On the 12th May,
HMS Spartan, a nuclear submarine,
fired four torpedos into the Argentine’s only aircraft carrier. Within an
hour, the aircraft carrier had sunk. The other Argentine ships waited around
only long enough to rescue the surviving crew & returned to port as quickly
as they could. In many respects, a stalemate eventuated as Argentina could only
supply the Falklands by air & had only 15 cargo planes which could fly into
& out of Stanley airfield. Furthermore, on 14th May, the
United Nations finally got involved in a meaningful manner. Backed up by the
Security Council, the UN began to broker a peace deal between the British &
Argentines. These negotiations were further forced along by threats from the
United States that it would intervene in the matter on the side of Britain. As a
result of these threats, the leadership of Argentina, which was a military Junta
at the time, caved into American pressure & agreed to a peace treaty with
Britain. As a result, the Falklands were handed back to Britain on 1st
June after the evacuation of all Argentine personnel. In return, Britain, under UN supervision, would have to hold
a referendum within 6 months on the Falklands asking its population what its
future would behold. The aftermath of the Falklands War in 1982, however, did not simply end there. By the end of June 1982, the Argentine Military Junta, governing the country, collapsed in the face of a People’s Revolution. Discussed by the eventual loss of the war, & by the handing back to Britain of the Falklands, the people of Argentina had had enough. Within 24 hours, Argentina was liberated from the military dictatorship & joined the ranks of free people in the democratic world. In a similar manner, the Thatcher government, even though successful in regarding the Falklands, nevertheless suffered badly in the British General Election in 1982. The defeat of the Royal Navy was, by far, too much for the British People to tolerate, & took it out on the Thatcher Government by voting the government out of office in preference for the Labour Party, as Britannia no longer ruled the waves. Argentine
Battle Plan for the Attack on the Royal Naval Fleet May
10 1982 Deployment h) All Tracker aircraft are based on the
mainland. d) Two Tracker aircraft shall patrol Falkland Island airspace to provide target information to the various aircraft.
Bibliography Gunston, B. Modern Fighters, Dee Why West, 1980 Lyons, H. Modern Warships, Dee Why West, 1980 Miller, D. The World’s Navies, New York, 1992 Paul, J & Spirit, M. Honour
Regained, (http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/) Peacock, The World’s Air Forces, New York 1992 Smith, G. Falklands War 1982, (http://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm) Collins - Jane’s, Combat Aircraft, 1995, Glasgow. Chronicle of the Falklands / Malvinas History and War of 1982, (http://www.yendor.com/vanished/falklands-war.html)
|
